I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

After winning the European Cup with the Spain Team and being named Player of the Tournament, many voices in the outside world argued that Rodri deserved to win this year’s Ballon d’Or. The legendary Henry said not long ago: "When people vote for awards like the Ballon d’Or, they often overlook the contribution of midfielders. Rodri is basically the heart of Manchester City. I always hoped that players like Xavi and Iniesta could win this award at their peak."

When Henry said this, people inevitably brought up Chen Zhong, but in Henry’s view, Chen Zhong cannot really be described as a "pure" midfielder, and his first Ballon d’Or was entirely earned through his goal-scoring numbers.

In any case, last season everything finally fell into place: Rodri edged out Real Madrid’s new "candidate" Vinicius to win the Ballon d’Or. At the time many people said that if this opportunity had been given to Chen Zhong, perhaps he could have taken yet another Ballon d’Or.

But Real Madrid also had its own considerations.

Chen Zhong has already won too many Ballons d’Or...

It was highly likely there would be some "backlash," and the organizers in particular no longer wanted Chen Zhong to keep winning the Ballon d’Or. In their view, that would make the award less valuable.

The last Spanish men’s player to win the Ballon d’Or was Luis Suárez in 1960, and Rodri also became only the second Ballon d’Or winner born after 1990.

As Henry said, whether at Manchester City or in the Spain National Team, you simply cannot ignore the enormous contribution Rodri made over this year, and the award for the Manchester City Team midfielder also makes up, in a way, for the huge regret left by predecessors like Xavi and Iniesta.

At the same time, it also serves as proof that this is no longer Chen Zhong’s era.

Rodri’s ability to beat Vinicius to this year’s Ballon d’Or naturally rests on his magnificent performances at the European Cup.

In the European Cup final, Spain beat England 2–1 and lifted the Delaunay Trophy for the fourth time in their history with a perfect run. UEFA’s technical observer panel awarded the tournament’s Best Player to Spain’s midfield core, Rodri. Although his injury-enforced withdrawal at half-time in the final was a minor pity, looking at the European Cup as a whole, Rodri winning the MVP was fully deserved. He was the attacking and defensive hub of this championship side, and the single most crucial piece in supporting De la Fuente’s tactical system that combines technique with pace.

Occupying the central spot in this Spain Team midfield as a lone Defensive Midfielder, Rodri had to protect Spain’s back line on the defensive side, while in attack he was the launchpad that propelled Nico Williams, Yamal, Fabian and Olmo as they surged into the opposition’s heart.

Over the entire tournament, Rodri contributed 13 successful tackles on the defensive end and recorded a passing accuracy as high as 92.84%, perfectly playing the role of the link that connects and transitions for a title-winning team. And while Rodri scored only one goal throughout the tournament, it was absolutely crucial. Spain, who had not conceded a single goal in the group stage, faced surprise package Georgia in their first knockout match. Le Normand’s own goal meant Spain trailed for the first time all tournament. At that moment Rodri stood up, unleashing one of his trademark long-range shots to level the score quickly, laying the foundation for the second-half comeback. Without Rodri’s brilliant goal, the final outcome of that match would have been anyone’s guess.

"The mutual competition and learning with Busquets made Rodri into the player he is today." Spain head coach De la Fuente once commented on his favorite pupil this way.

In fact, this European Cup was the first major tournament in which Rodri truly played as Spain Team’s starting midfielder. Two years earlier at the World Cup in Qatar, Busquets was still the first-choice Defensive Midfielder for Spain, and Rodri could only fill in at center-back, a position he was not particularly good at. After Spain’s World Cup exit, Busquets announced the End of his national team career, and Rodri finally ushered in a big-tournament stage of his own. In the 2023 Nations League finals, Rodri, as Spain’s starting Defensive Midfielder, helped the team win the title and was also named Player of the Tournament, ending the Bullfighters’ 11-year trophy drought the very first time he took over as main Defensive Midfielder. This year’s European Cup, as the first major tournament in which Rodri was the undisputed starter, saw him deliver an even more magnificent performance. As the best player in a champion side, he outshone Vinicius, who had been underwhelming at the Copa America, and became the new Ballon d’Or winner.

His dazzling performances at major tournaments are the main reason Rodri outshone all his rivals, and when it comes to club form, as Henry said, Rodri is essentially the "central node" of this Manchester City Team.

A single statistic shows Rodri’s importance to Manchester City. Over the past season, in matches where Rodri played, Manchester City lost only once—the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester United. But in that match the entire Manchester City Team were off-form, and the loss cannot be pinned on Rodri. Before that game, Rodri had gone 74 matches unbeaten in all competitions when he was on the pitch; with the loss to Manchester United and the failure to win the FA Cup, that streak came to an End.

Last season Manchester City played four Premier League matches without Rodri and lost three of them. In the 0–1 away defeat to Arsenal, Rodri was suspended. In that match, Manchester City were completely outplayed by the Gunners at both ends of the pitch, managing only four shots on target in the entire game. This is also why, after Rodri was ruled out for the season with an injury this year, the outside world believed Manchester City would find it hard to extend their run of consecutive Premier League titles.